Tag Archives: Eclipse

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, it is not only the victim’s life that is changed forever. Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear, and while Laura knows she was right to speak out, the events that follow have taught her that you can never see the whole picture: something, and someone, is always in the dark.

It took me quite awhile to get into this book. I honestly thought about giving up, but all the reviews I read that talked about the great ending made me power through. While I ultimately found it a little disappointing, I am glad that I kept reading. About a third of the way through it started to get a lot more interesting and then a little farther along there is a surprise that definitely makes the tedious first part of the book worth it.

The story is told in alternating 1st person POV between Laura and Kit and in alternate timelines. I am a big fan of both of those narrative devices when done well and I thought they were used very effectively here. It felt completely necessary to the story and not just a narrative style choice. I didn’t particularly like either Laura or Kit, but this is one of those instances where you don’t really have to. While they both did stupid things sometimes, there was always a level of empathy with them and chances of redemption, so I could still root for them. The other main character is Beth and I was not a fan of her at all. I’m not going to go into any detail about her, though, because I don’t feel like I can do it without revealing any spoilers.

Eclipse chasing is a big part of the story. I thought that it would just be part of the setting where the catalyst of the story takes place, but it’s much more than that. I never knew that eclipse chasing was a thing that people traveled all over the world for. It does seem like an expensive hobby to have, especially for people who aren’t exactly wealthy, and my deeply practical nature makes me view it as irresponsible, which kind of soured me on the Kit and Laura. It did make me kind of excited about the eclipse that’s supposed to be in the US this year, but I just looked it up and I don’t live in an area that will see Totality so now I’m a little disappointed.

Overall, He Said/She Said was a decent book, but fell short of my expectations. The reveals and slightly faster pace of the second half the book could not completely save it from the very slow, somewhat hard to get through beginning. While I liked the twists in the story, they were not as explosive as I was expecting from other reviews I’ve read. However, I did love how it was written and thought it was one of the most effective uses of multiple POV and timelines that I have read in quite awhile.